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Smithies: We can't get carried away by poor run

ALEX Smithies says QPR mustn’t allow themselves to get too carried away by a recent poor run of form, in the same way the players didn’t get carried away by the strong start they made to the campaign.

The R’s stopper was speaking following Saturday’s 2-1 defeat at his former club Huddersfield Town, who sit proudly at the top of the Championship table with 19 points from eight fixtures.

After winning their opening two games of the campaign, QPR were one of the early-season front-runners before a run of one point from their last three matches has seen them slip down the table.

“We started the season well but nobody got carried away by that,” said Smithies. “Equally, we have had a dip now in performances and results but, again, we are not going to get too carried away by it.

“We have got some very good players in our dressing room, good personalities and people who can turn it around. Hopefully we can do that – I am sure we will.”

QPR went down to goals from Kasey Palmer and Elias Kachunga at the John Smiths Stadium, with substitute Idrissa Sylla netting a late goal for Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink’s side.

“It was another disappointing defeat,” admitted Smithies, who made more than 250 appearances for the Terriers before moving to Loftus Road last summer.

“We all took the mid-week loss to Newcastle very hard but it was just three points lost and we knew we had an opportunity to turn things around quite quickly with the game at Huddersfield. That was our aim, but it wasn’t to be.

“We showed signs of improvement in the second half, and we put pressure on them in the latter stages where we could have nicked a draw, but it wasn’t our day unfortunately.

“I felt we showed fight, and on another day we could have taken something from the game.”

The R’s have a mini-break from league action now, as they host Sunderland in the EFL Cup on Wednesday night, before Birmingham pay a visit to west London in six days’ time.

“The break (from a league fixture) might be good for us on the back of a few poor results,” Smithies admitted. “If we can get a good result against Sunderland, it could give us a real confidence lift before we go back to league action.”

I felt we showed fight, and on another day we could have taken something from the game.